


Erin's Finale

by XQueen0fHellx



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:09:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26767060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XQueen0fHellx/pseuds/XQueen0fHellx
Summary: a short story I wrote. Considering a sequel someday.





	Erin's Finale

My name is Erin, and I am an assassin. Well, almost an assassin. Yes, I know, no one ever expects a woman to be a killer. I have my reasons, and I have my talents, I do not need to be questioned by a petty commoner. I did attempt to kill one of the masters to prove my worth, but I was shown up, the cold steel of a dagger against my throat. But he liked my spunk, so he decided to train me. The assassin order did not like that, and tried to kick me out at once. Over time, they grudgingly accepted me, rather having a person with my skill on their side instead of against them. 

As apprentices, when we learn more skills, we have tests to show that we learned things properly. A failed test usually doesn’t end good, and it isn’t always the assassins that punish you. You have to kill someone, at first it was just peasants, easy targets, simple to kill, then we slowly move up and up to harder people. 

I’m the best in this recent batch of trainees, and I’m not bragging. My trainer gives me harder targets than anyone else, knowing I can take them on. Oh, you want to know my trainer’s name? I can’t tell you, in fact, I don’t even know his yet. I only told you my name because I will get a new name when I become a full assassin, I name I only share with other assassins, and then Erin will be meaningless. I will become nothing, not a soul will know who I am, where I am, or what became of Erin. She would be dead.

My trainer asked me to meet him at sunrise in the center plaza of this city, and so I am waiting, early and eager, dawn a few hours away. My perch is the blacksmith’s roof, one of the plaza buildings. There are very few people at night, but torches still burn to give light to those who still wander. I saw someone trying to sneak around and be unseen, but he is clumsy, and his footfalls echo quietly. I contemplated tossing my preferred weapon, a dagger, in front of his face to scare him, but decided it was a waste of a dagger that I might need later.

Waiting made a few hours feel like days, but when the first light of sun hit the sky, I climbed down the wall like a spider, my feet and hands carefully placed. When I reached the ground, I turned and walked out into the open, and went to sit on the edge of the fountain that sat in the center. Cool water splashed up and hit my hands which were by my side. The cold made me shiver, but it was also from nerves. I hoped I would succeed, I didn’t want to fail everyone now. 

My trainer had his hood up as he approached from the north, not letting anyone see his face. He sat next to me, his hands crossed, and then started to speak. I always loved hearing his voice, he could inflict so many dialects and tones to help blend in with the crowd, and currently he sounded like he was from the Middle East instead of Germany. 

“Did you hear that the British king is visiting our fair country? It is such an honor to us all.”

We spoke in code, we don’t want anyone knowing we’re plotting to kill anyone do we? From that statement alone, I knew my target was the king of Brittan, and my heart raced at the opportunity. But I also shivered in fear. Usually the final test was someone of importance, but never has an apprentice, no matter how skilled, been asked to kill a king.

“I heard he has a whole caravan of guards, all decked out in beautiful armor, the kind that makes our blacksmith jealous. Would you like to come with me to see him? He will be parading through our city in two days hence, and will be staying for only a day in the palace of our great duke. Our duke has tripled his guards I keep hearing, I guess he’s afraid that something will happen. Oh, and he is letting the king stay in his room. Maybe I should pose as the king to get such nice luxuries.”

I contemplated his words, committing them to memory. So the king will have a huge caravan of guards, I wasn’t surprised by that, but parading through the city was unexpected. Most people had not even heard of the king’s coming and I had assumed he wanted to just pass through. There would be many people watching the king’s arrival, so it would not be wise to plan for his assassination at that time. I only had one day to complete my task, and with the tripled guards, it was going to be tough. I would have to find maps of the interior so I could get in and out faster, and know where the duke’s room is. His last sentence puzzled me for a moment, and then it clicked that there was someone posing as the king and not to be fooled. And I had two days to plan.

“Thanks for letting me know, I hadn’t heard about him coming. Perhaps I will show up to watch him, it would be interesting.” I said to him, not much else to say as I kept thinking about the information he had given me. 

He got up and walked off, seemingly without a word, but I heard him whisper “Good luck.”

The assassin order would not have given me such a hard task if they didn’t have any hope of me completing it. This was the first time my trainer had ever told me good luck, and that worried me. I gulped, and stood. I had work to do.

Through the next two days I went around the town, posing as different people to get different information. I found out about many of the castle’s secrets, but I didn’t learn much that was useful, except for perhaps a few good hiding spots. I had gone to the library and looked for maps and city plans, hoping to find where the duke’s room was and find entrance points. I found out, and it was not good to know. The only ways in or out were a door that was bound to be heavily guarded, and a window overlooking a chasm. No one knew what was at the bottom.

I would mingle in the castle as a servant for the day. I would find out who the real king was, and who was the decoy. From there, I have a few options. I had some poison on me that was of my own creation. It didn’t show any symptoms and was both odorless and tasteless, but within an hour, whoever had ingested it would start hallucinating, and if I had dosed all of the food, it should create enough chaos for me to complete my kill and leave. If that plan wasn’t possible, my other plan was to climb up the three stories up to the duke’s room, and kill him there. Leaving might be an issue, for if I had to hurry, I might slip and fall to my doom. I had hidden climbing equipment near the base of the castle just in case. 

My plan was dangerous, but killing a king was going to be dangerous. If I fail, I would be dead, either ran through by one of the guards, or a public death. I would prefer the first one, at least then my trainer wouldn’t have to see my shame.

People were already crowded around the path to the castle. I had decided not to stay in the crowd to watch, for getting in would be much harder after that. I had already gotten into the clothing that the servants wear, an off white apron, and a simple brown dress. I had both cleaning rags and a few cooking utensils in the apron pouch, along with a few hidden weapons, ready to be able to move from kitchen to the halls when needed.

I went in through the servant’s entrance which was located on the west side of the castle. The inside walls loomed overhead in the entryway, and the shadows in the ceiling darkened my hope. I was not a master assassin, who was I to take on this task? Perhaps I should accept failure and return empty handed. I did not know what would become of me, but it would probably be preferable to getting caught and hung by the king.

I gulped down my fears, and forced my legs to move, my feet leading me to the great hall. It was very loud, it seemed like everyone was inside, bustling around and making sure everything was perfect for the king’s arrival. The duke was nowhere to be seen, but I assumed he would be at the front to greet the king. Other royal people were here though, making sure their hair and clothing were perfect, asking one another if they looked grand enough. I would never understand the desire of people to look good in front of stuck up asses, instead of for the people that actually care.

The roaring outside signaled the arrival of the royal procession. The rumble of the stone doors swinging open revealed more of the crowd’s noise. The king’s whole parade came though, I could hear the clacking of armor and the clicking of hooves, and the doors were closed once more. 

The people in the hall with me went silent in respect, as the guards and king came through the hall. The duke was at his side, chatting quietly about different tapestries and such. I wasn’t really paying attention to him, but was watching each and every guard, each servant the king had brought, each of the other people with him. My heart dropped as I realized the king could be anyone.

The duke’s servants were leading the horses away to the stables. I decided to follow, and perhaps I could search through saddlebags for more information. A servant glared at me for just walking alongside the group, and pointed back the way he came where a few other horses still stood. I went and picked a rather pretty black stallion. He seemed tense when I got near, his nostrils flaring. I wondered if he could smell the death the lingered around me, or perhaps my poison has a scent that animals can detect. I whispered soothing words to calm the beast, and he relaxed, letting me grab his bridle and walk him away. 

I walked at his side, one hand stroking his mane. It was a pity I couldn’t get attached to animals. An assassin is always on the move, the same animal can cause suspicion and ruin your cover. But I knew how to work with them, and I had stolen a few horses to gain distance from my dead targets. I had also enticed a cat to come to me once, and put some poisonous bugs in her thick fur, knowing full well the bugs only bit humans, and the cat was almost always in the lap of her momma. 

I took him to the stables, which were actually outside but only accessible from the inside, a rather stupid idea in my opinion. I picked an empty stall, took off his gear and brushed him down. I grabbed a bucket of food and water and brought them in his stall, and set his tack in the chest marked with his stall number. Once all of the horses had been taken care of, the other servants left, leaving me to rummage through saddlebags. My search turned up nothing important, and I sighed in disappointment. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy but I needed every little bit of help, and even luck, that I could get.

I headed back into the main bulk of the castle, and decided to try the kitchens. The cooks in any place often gossip, and I hoped to hear something from that. What I got was a lot of grumpy chefs complaining about how things needed to be perfect, and they didn’t need just any workers in there today. I was swatted out with a very large metal spoon that honestly could be a dangerous weapon if used right. There goes my plan to poison everyone if I couldn’t even get in without suspicion. 

Sulking, I went to the great hall once more. People sat at every available seat, and it was going to prove to be a pain to try to listen to each of the few hundred people to attempt to figure out who was the real king. But I grabbed a pitcher of wine and started meandering around the room, serving the red liquid, and listening in. 

“For being a duke, this place sure seems a bit too much.”

“My ass hurts from riding for so long. Do you think we actually get comfortable beds tonight?”

“This place smells like rats.”

“Did you know the king’s brother was supposed to be with us, but he suddenly caught a case of the flu and had to stay home.”

I started walking away, but had a crazy idea. I went back to the person who had been talking about the king’s brother, and tapped on his shoulder.

“Excuse me, but I overheard you talking. The king’s brother you say? Will he be alright?” I asked, making my voice sound timid and weak.

“That’s right miss, the king himself almost cancelled his meeting with your king, they are twins after all and very close. But you don’t need to know about them, why don’t you join me in my bed tonight?” he grabbed my ass and I wanted to slap him across the face and drag one of my hidden daggers across his throat. 

I kept my cool and offered more wine before scurrying off. I’m positive the impostor was supposed to be the king’s brother, but realized the king he would have to do without, as a meeting with another of such great importance should not be delayed, and they would have to do without the decoy and hope for the best. What luck!

But that meant the real king would be sleeping in just a few short hours in the duke’s room. Guards would already be in place by now considering the king’s gear and clothing and the like had already been brought in and wasn’t going to be lying around. With a sigh, I mingled with a group of maids leaving the hall, and made my way back to the servant’s entrance.

I shed my disguise and got into more normal clothing. My favorite part was the dark hood that covered my face. The rest of my clothing was dark, breeches that were rather plain, but were tight to the skin for me to strap on a few sheaths for daggers. My shirt was actually a few layers, concealing the many pockets within. I wished I had proper assassin robes, because not only are they functional, they looked amazing.

My climbing gear was easy to find, and I waited in the brush until a head peaked out the window, checking for anything out of the ordinary, and then shut the panes behind him. I crept out of hiding and to the base of the wall. There was a small ledge above the crevice, and I pressed myself against the wall, sidestepping until I got under the window. I held a couple of metal spikes in my teeth, and had rope slung over my shoulder. I started climbing up the wall, using whatever footholds I could find, and when I could not find one, I would grab one of the spikes and shove it into the wall. I would stop and listen carefully after each time, making sure no one heard the scraping of metal on stone, then continued my way up, grabbing my spikes out with my feet and passing them back up to where I held the other ones. It took some of the master assassins months to perfect that trick. I smiled, knowing that if my trainer was watching, he would be proud.

I got to the base of the window and peered into the room. It was rather dark, and it had been nearly an hour to climb this high. I had skills, but I wasn’t quite as fast at them as I would like. That wasn’t really an issue though, because in that time, the king was sure to be asleep. I stuck one of the spikes into the wall under the window, and tired the rope to it, letting it sway, and giving me an escape route.

I pushed the pane open just a crack, making sure it didn’t squeak. It’s amazing how nobles don’t realize a potential thief alarm when it came to having a little luxury. Even the sill was clean from that same luxury, and I left no footprints as I slipped into the room. 

The bed was against the far wall, and I silently slid over to it. Drawing a dagger, I pulled away the covers slowly, as to not disturb my victim. My jaw dropped when there was no person, but a mass of pillows under the blankets. It was then I hear a horn blare from behind me.

I ducked out of reflexes as a sword swung over my head. The door to the wardrobe stood open, and I knew they were waiting for someone like me to come along. They included the guard in front of me, and the guards coming into the room. 

I twisted and jumped, dodging and crouching, doing everything I could to avoid the deadly weapons with my name on them. When I could, I threw out a few of my own weapons, and daggers found their marks. A guard collapsed from a sliced hamstring, and I leaped through the opening, dashing down the hall, for I would not be able to make it to the window from here, and they might pull my spike out and drop me to my doom as I scampered down anyway. 

More horns echoed down the halls, warning of my presence, and I could hear the pursuit behind me. I dashed past even more guards in my run, and they too followed. They knew these halls better than I, but I was faster, and kept ahead.

“Your majesty, quick, in here!”

I couldn’t believe it. As I dashed past another hallway, I saw a servant leading the king into another room. Escape, or do what I was sent to do, with no guarantees I would get out?

This was my window, even if I died, I will be forever remembered, the only apprentice to kill a king. I ran up a wall, leaped off, and ran down the hallway where my target was waiting. 

My heart was racing, but I did not notice. The castle was cool, but from my run I was sweating and the cold didn’t touch me. My eyes followed my target, hurriedly following his servant. I licked my lips, hungry for the kill. I was like a coiled snake that had sprung, or like a wolf that was closing in on a rabbit.

The servant screamed when he saw me, and fled in terror. The king too tried to follow, but I was already upon him, my dagger plunged deep into his throat.


End file.
